Category Archives: About astrology

Weekly Forecast July 21: New Moon in Leo, Mars Enters Scorpio

Anti-government protests in Kiev, November 2013. © Mykhaylo Palinchak/Dreamstime.com.

Anti-government protests in Kiev, November 2013. © Mykhaylo Palinchak/Dreamstime.com.

Last week’s planetary shifting left many of us feeling “off-kilter,” as one friend put it. I’d like to say that we’ll get back “on-kilter” this week, but despite some favorable astrological events on the way, we’re in limbo for a bit longer.

In the tradition of delivering the bad news first, the station of Saturn and Uranus, and at a difficult angle with one another, continues to be a major influence for a few more weeks. Saturn returns direct today (Sunday, July 20), and Uranus turns retrograde on Monday.

If you’ve been following this blog, you know that Uranus has been in an epic square with Pluto that began building in 2010 and will continue through next year, Continue reading

Weekly Forecast July 7: Full Moon in Capricorn, Mercury Enters Cancer

© Satori13 for Dreamstime.com

© Satori13 for Dreamstime.com

The biggest astrological event this week is the Full Moon in Capricorn, which brings more emphasis to the cardinal T-square/grand cross that just won’t quit.

Normally, what we start at the New Moon comes to fruition or at least reaches a major milestone at the Full Moon. Capricorn is known for being orderly and structured, but with the Sun and Moon in a fairly close square with erratic Uranus, the order is subject to change without notice. Also, Mercury was retrograde and behaving strangely at the New Moon. Add Uranus into the mix, and “fruition” prbably won’t be what you had in mind.

Now, that could be a good thing. Continue reading

Weekly Forecast November 19: Sun Enters Sagittarius, Mars Square Uranus

Pallas and Centaur, Sandro Botticelli, c. 1482

We’re in something of a twilight zone this week, between eclipses and with Mercury retrograde in secretive Scorpio. Certainly some of the news headlines have been surreal.

But we do get out of deep, dark Scorpio territory just a little bit with the Sun’s entry in Sagittarius – not that the party sign doesn’t have its dark side, too.

The constellation Sagittarius as a centaur with a bow and arrow is very old, dating at least as far back as ancient Mesopotamia. Babylonian astrologers depicted him as a centaur-like god with wings and two heads, one of a man and the other of a panther. You could say he had a third “head,” a very prominent male member. In any case, this image symbolized the dual nature of humans. We’re capable of being civilized, wise, and consciously evolved, but deep within us lies a primal, animal nature – the shadow side. Interestingly, the Mesopotamian centaur figure has a Scorpion’s tail.

In Greek mythology, the centaurs were a savage race known for getting drunk and going on wild rampages. So the story goes, they were invited to a wedding and immediately proceeded to drink too much, rape the female guests, and carry off the bride. In retribution, they were slain by Theseus of Minotaur fame, who, fortunately for the bride’s father, was among the wedding guests.

Now, you’re going to love this: One of the rapacious centaurs at the wedding was named Petraios, whose name in Latin is Petraeus – he of the rocks. Or maybe, we should say, “on the rocks.” I mean, how much of a synchronicity is this? Among the hottest news in the past two weeks was the resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus, forced to step down following the exposure of an extramarital affair with his buff biographer, Paula Broadwell. Prior to becoming head of the nation’s top spy agency, Petraeus, a four-star general, led rampages in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dual nature of humanity, indeed. As if facing Mrs. Petraeus isn’t punishment enough, Congress is grilling him about his apparent lies and cover-up of what really happened in Benghazi, which by some accounts was a CIA base disguised as a consulate. Fat chance we’ll get the truth on that. Then again, with Mercury retrograde in Sagittarius and Scorpio, perhaps the truth will “accidentally” slip out after Mercury turns direct on November 26.

Another bit of trivia: Petraeus and Broadwell are both Scorpios, with birthdays less than a week before the solar eclipse on November 13. Frankly, I think these two are soul mates. Even without their birth times, their charts tell me that they were destined to cross paths, and their “fall from grace” may have implications for the collective beyond the sordid media soap opera. At the very least, it speaks to our liminal state.

The Sun enters Sagittarius on Wednesday, with Venus entering Scorpio a few hours later. As I was saying, we’re still on the Dark Side. The love nature of Venus and the obsessed, extreme nature of Pluto aren’t a happy combination. Think jealousy, crimes of passion, and fatal attraction. Of course, Venus in Scorpio also has her very sexy side. But it’s sexy in part because it’s so dangerous. Like James Bond women. Throughout the week, Venus approaches conjunction with Saturn. More about that in a minute…

On Thursday, Thanksgiving in the United States, the Sun and Venus aspect Neptune. I have a feeling these two aspects are going to cancel each other out, so that the Sun-Neptune square won’t be so discouraging and the Venus-Neptune trine won’t be as dreamy. Do keep in mind, though, that with Mercury retrograde, misunderstandings happen more than usual, and Neptune represents confusion – in this case, probably due to too much wine with dinner. Plan ahead by having some engaging DVDs on hand. If you decide to go to a movie at the theater, I highly recommend Cloud Atlas. I saw it last week and was deeply moved. My only explanation for why it got savaged by critics is that they didn’t get it.

On Friday, Mars squares Uranus. This configuration alone can be explosive, but with Uranus in Mars-ruled Aries, in a square with Pluto and conjunct the Moon, it’s hide-under-the-bed time. Or is it? Mars also is sextile Saturn, with Venus approaching conjunction. Moreover, Saturn and Pluto are in mutual reception. This seems to me to be a major game-changer – how, exactly, it’s hard to say, because we’ve never experienced this configuration in our lifetime. I have some thoughts about this, but I’m going to save them for next week, when the alignments are exact.

Both Venus and Mars form soft aspects to Chiron from Friday through Sunday. Chiron was also a centaur. He overcame his savage nature and went on to become a wise healer and mentor to Greek heroes, but suffered greatly, in life and in death. With Venus and Mars in aspect to Chiron over the weekend, we have an opening to see our fundamental wounds with clarity and compassion, and to adopt the courage and discipline to move forward, even though we might fear that our wounds leave us vulnerable.

The day after Thanksgiving is also known as Black Friday, when retailers make up for slow sales during the rest of the year. With Saturn and Pluto in mutual reception and Jupiter retrograde, I think they’re going to be disappointed. Anyway, if you use astrology as a tool for timing, you know better than to shop for large-ticket items while Mercury is retrograde. I’d wait for the January sales. With Jupiter returning direct at the end of January, we may find some exceptionally good bargains.

Much love and courage to all,
Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

Three Years Ago Today

I was going through some back files (a good Mercury retrograde activity) and found this hilarious video from Michael Lutin at the National Press Club.

His talk was in January 2008, but he posted this video, with highlights from that presentation as well as an appearance on the Today Show, on Aug. 19, 2008 – three years ago to the day. This is as good a time as any to review it and also to have a look at his predictions in the December 2006 issue of Vanity Fair magazine, a groundbreaking article that I’ve referenced several times on my blog.

Still working on a Vesta article, which is growing into something more and will have to wait until next week.

I’ll be back on Sunday with the forecast. Until then, hang in there!

Aquarius, the sign of astrologyPat

The last time Pluto was in Capricorn: Boston Massacre, Mar. 5, 1770, by John Bufford, 1868.

Leo-Aquarius: Power, Purpose and the Path of Self-Realization, Part II

© Liudmila Gridina for Dreamstime.com

There is a Real Self and a false self, and it is Leo’s job to discover which is which. The false self is the ego. It is a social construction formed by the various masks we wear, whereas the Real Self is our true spiritual nature, which can only be experienced and not spoken about. Once we have discovered the reality of our authentic Self for ourselves, our power and purpose becomes clear.

… like a sudden clash of thunder. Suddenly you are together, suddenly you have a direction, suddenly you know where your gold is. ~ OSHO

Ironically, to arrive at this realization of authentic Self, Leo needs the group awareness of his polar opposite, Aquarius. The humanitarian group consciousness of Aquarius recognizes the whole of humanity as a single living entity, a connectedness that is comprised of unique fully-realized individuals.

This higher realization of group awareness is very distinct from the tribalism of lower mass-consciousness, which is divisive in its attempt to separate humanity into tribes and nations. Tribalism is where the personality-centered Leo gets caught; in playing the role of the chief or the pauper, he is still adhering to a manmade view that has been imposed upon the existing reality and on him. It is “false.” His struggle is in trying to make that work.

The realization that the Human Spirit really is “as one” ignites the Leo Soul with a renewed sense of power and purpose. The inner fire burns brightly. You rise above the limited view of societal expectations and recognize your inner truth as a unique individual with an important role to play. The higher purpose of Leo is the expression of Divine Will, rather than egoic will.

[quote cite=”Martha Graham”]There is a reality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.[/quote]

Whereas the personality-focused Leo erroneously thinks they are important because of what they do (and/or how the society rewards that), the fully Soul-integrated Leo knows their true value lies in who they are, their Being. It is your Heart-Light that is really important.

According to Alice Bailey,1 the Soul “does battle” in two signs, Leo and Scorpio. The first battle in Leo is the battle to individuate. After the Soul’s journey through mass consciousness in Cancer, Leo asks, “What about Me?” The sense of “Me” as an individual arises, and it is time to battle for one’s individuality.

To win this battle, the Lion must walk alone, free from the masses. This is a necessary step in the evolution of human consciousness, for it allows us to break free from the herd to rise above the delusions of tribal and mob consciousness. Only through your unique inner journey can you realize the true importance of your Self.

This doesn’t mean leaving the group, for how is it possible to leave something you are inherently part of? It means not allowing your sense of Self to be defined by society, but rather acknowledging the sovereignty of your inner Self and Divine Law. In the highest group awareness of Aquarius, Leo is able to blossom in his unique creative expression. From there he recognizes the true meaning of individual, as one Being indivisible from the whole.

[quote cite=”William Shakespeare”]All the World’s a stage, and all the Men and Women merely players.[/quote]

This whole world really is a stage for the unfoldment of Divine Purpose. With this realization, you bring the magnificence of your essence into any role you choose, for the benefit of all humanity. The spiritual path of Leo rises above identification with the lower self, so your life becomes a creative expression of Divine Will.

This is “right use” of ego: freely and consciously participating in roles for the expression of Divine Will and Purpose. You know your Self to be an expression of Love in action, and you are not identified with the action. Dropping all that is false and keeping your attention on that which is real, you fulfill your role with Divine Grace and Purpose.

Pinocchio was a real boy after all, because he had Love, and that is real. The enlightened Leo shows us that we are all so much more important than the roles we play, yet play them we do . . . for the show must go on, for the good of the whole. As long as we realize they are only roles, we can fulfill our purpose here on Earth with all the grace, dignity and courage of a Lion.

Will you continue to be a puppet who dances to another’s tune? Or will you set off on your own search for a star … and discover that star is really you?


Ruth

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Footnotes:

1. The Twelve Labours of Hercules: An Astrological Perspective, by Alice Bailey.

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Ruth Hadikin, Soul Astrologer

Ruth Hadikin – Soul Astrologer

To get your personal Soul Sign/Life Purpose Report (FREE with a consultation), contact Ruth via her website. You can also request a FREE mp3 download, “The Energetics of Soul Astrology.”

Gemini-Sagittarius: The Sacred Marriage of Love and Wisdom, Part II

Gemini, from Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, c. 1410. Although the "twins" in the constellation of Gemini represent two brothers in classical mythology, other traditions depict them as twin flames, male and female.

At Soul level, Gemini is ruled by Venus, a sacred planet (according to Esoteric Astrology).

Venus’ higher octave awakens us to truth, beauty, harmony and the highest unconditional love. The Gemini Soul is here to unite the head and the heart, creating a bridge to Higher Mind and Higher Love.1

The fully integrated Gemini resolves polarity at every level.2 All opposites merge in Gemini: self-others, personality-soul; Higher Self-lower self; mind-heart, etc. This happens through a deep understanding of energetic relationships. Through Mercurial connection to Higher Mind, consciousness, and Venus, Gemini governs the Breath of Life, the movement of Spirit in Form. This awakens us to conscious relationship on all levels.

The Gemini personality, lacking the wisdom to comprehend the complexity of these relationships, has a tendency to become scattered, distracted by an array of duality. The deep, truth-seeking focus of Sagittarius is needed for Gemini to find (and stay on) the path leading to its higher Soul purpose:

To teach Right Human Relations, between
self and others, personality and soul, anima and animus,
higher mind and lower mind.
3

In its exploration of energetic relationships, Esoteric Astrology discusses the subject of the Seven Rays.3 Earth is on the evolutionary path of the second ray of Love-Wisdom, otherwise known as the “path of love. In Buddhism, the ultimate wisdom is the “wisdom realizing emptiness” and is written in a text called “The Heart Sutra.” The ultimate wisdom is therefore considered to be “heart” wisdom or “Love-Wisdom.” Thus the spiritual path of Gemini-Sagittarius is inherently linked to the spiritual evolution of the Earth and of human consciousness.4

The spiritual path of Gemini-Sagittarius is the path of heart-wisdom leading to the realization of ultimate truth. It is the spiritual path of realizing Love-Wisdom through the revelation of truth. However, where Sagittarius is seeking truth, Gemini is asking, “What is truth?” To fully understand Gemini’s Soul Path, we need to understand the concept of “two truths.”

The “two truths” refer to conventional truth, as we experience it in our everyday, and the ultimate truth of reality. This can be explained by a paradox, I’m sitting on a chair. The chair does not exist. Both statements are “true.” Conventionally, the chair exists. We can see it. Yet on the atomic level, there is nothing. There is certainly no chair and indeed there is more space than there is solidness at that level. So it is also completely true to say that the chair really does not exist.

Because of a deep realization of the relationship between energies and an ability to experience many dimensions of Being, the Gemini Soul realizes that all “conventional” truth is relative and depends upon both our perspective and our capacity for perception.

The integrated Gemini teaches others through the creation of wonderful “stories,” weaving thought, information and ideas into magnificent concepts – “mental structures” that point towards ultimate truth – and by creating new systems of thought, or sciences.5

Our problems arise when we confuse those mental concepts with ultimate truth. As soon as we put truth into words, it is no longer truth, but merely one expression of it – which reduces it to the level of conventional truth. It is not, in ultimate reality, a chair just because we label it as such.

[quote cite=”Lin Yutang”]He who talks about truth injures it thereby;
He who tries to prove it thereby maims and distorts it;
He who gives it a label and a school of thought kills it;
And He who declares himself a believer buries it.[/quote]

 When we start believing our own stories, it confines us to a narrow and limited experience of Spiritual Truth. This is the ego-trap of Gemini: over-identification with thinking, and the mistaken belief that we are what we think. If we believe the philosopher Descartes who said, “I think, therefore I am,” then who are you when you are not thinking? The integrated Gemini is aware of many multi-dimensional aspects of our Selves as Spiritual Beings, way beyond thinking.

If you have Sun, Moon, or Ascendant in Gemini, the challenge for you is to experience your Self beyond your thoughts. There is literally more to you than what you think! This world is very distracting for a Gemini, and it is all too easy for you to get lost in trivia, missing the magnificence of your inner being. With the sustained focus of Sagittarius, you are capable of travelling beyond your thoughts into multiple inner dimensions to the very depths of your Soul.

During Gemini season (May 21-June 21), the energy of Gemini is available to all of us. It is our annual opportunity to connect with the wisdom of our hearts. Will you use the extensive power of Gemini to divide or unite? To build walls or bridges? Will you scratch beneath the surface, discover worlds within worlds, and realize the deepest truths of your Soul and the ultimate relationship of Love-Wisdom? It all depends upon your ability to choose where you place your attention and maintain your focus.


Ruth

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Footnotes:
1. Read more about the unique Gemini-Venus relationship and its vital significance for 2012 in Ruth’s article, Venus 2012: The Apocalypse and the Power of Love
2. A fully integrated Gemini would be a future human who already has full Soul/personality fusion.
3. Esoteric Astrology. The teachings of Djwhal Khul (Master DK) as channelled through Alice Bailey.
4. In Esoteric Astrology, the Earth is the Soul Ruler of Sagittarius and the Hierarchical ruler of Gemini. This shows the importance of the Earth for individuals under these signs and the importance of the Divine Intelligence of Gemini-Sagittarius, in the evolutionary process on Earth.
5. Alice Bailey, author of Esoteric Astrology, had Sun in Gemini, as does this author!

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Ruth Hadikin, Soul Astrologer

Ruth Hadikin – Soul Astrologer

To get your personal Soul Sign/Life Purpose Report (FREE with a consultation), contact Ruth via her website. You can also request a FREE mp3 download, “The Energetics of Soul Astrology.”

Chiron in Pisces: The Healing Power of Self-Pity, Part II

In Part I of this article, Ruth discussed coming to terms with our suffering under Chiron in Pisces. In the second and final installment, she talks about how to get through the suffering to a place of healing. ~Pat

Chiron instructs young Achilles, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.

Another attribute of Chiron in Pisces is that we may find ourselves needing stronger boundaries than ever before. As our capacity for compassion increases, we will naturally attract needy people who want to tell us all their problems. If we don’t have firm boundaries in place, we can find ourselves quickly feeling drained while all those around us feel better. Don’t fall for the old Piscean trap of trying to fix everybody else. It’s not your job. It is each individual’s job to heal themselves.

Another reason why you will need strong boundaries is that you might feel a very strong urge to withdraw from people and spend more time in solitude. This is natural and vitally important, because it creates the time and space that you need in order to go within and listen to your inner voice.

When Chiron is in Pisces, it is important to avoid the temptation for escapism through alcohol, drugs, TV, movies, anything to distract us, make us go numb and avoid having to face the pain and suffering we are experiencing on the inside. This only puts off the inevitable and makes matters worse. When your inner self is crying for your attention and you ignore it, you are abandoning yourself. This adds to your sense of disconnectedness, isolation, and suffering.

What Chiron in Pisces is trying to show you is that when you take the time to be fully present with yourself, the sense of fear and isolation lessens. You can begin to touch that deeper, compassionate part inside you and actually feel nurtured by being with your own loving presence. If you have no experience of meditation and/or therapy, it might be time you took a spiritual teacher or hired a coach or counsellor. This Chiron transit invites you to give your inner world your highest and best attention.

Remember, in the Buddha’s lesson there were four noble truths. After the first truth of suffering comes the second truth, that suffering has causes; the third truth, that it can end; and the fourth truth, that there is a method, or way, to that end. That way is your inner journey, your own presence. You can find it by following a spiritual path, through personal development, or therapy. Any method that allows you to go deeper on your inner journey will eventually lead you there.

With practice, you may even learn to welcome self-pity when it comes knocking. If you are experiencing self-pity, think of it as a spiritual wake-up call. You are trying to get your attention. It is time to strengthen those boundaries and enjoy more solitude. Sitting with yourself, accepting, acknowledging and embracing the truth of your own pain and suffering, is not the number one choice of entertainment for a fun Saturday night, but you will find the experience nurturing and potentially very healing.


Ruth

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Ruth Hadikin, Soul Astrologer

Ruth Hadikin – Soul Astrologer

To get your personal Soul Sign/Life Purpose Report (FREE with a consultation), contact Ruth via her website. You can also request a FREE mp3 download, “The Energetics of Soul Astrology.”

Chiron in Pisces: The Healing Power of Self-Pity, Part I

In today’s post, Ruth writes about Chiron in Pisces from the viewpoint of soul astrology. I’m trying to work up a good dose of self-pity but I’m tired and have a headache. ~ Pat

Chiron instructs young Achilles, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.

Chiron, affectionately known as “the wounded healer,” went into Pisces on February 8 and will be here until April 2018, so we’d better get used to it!

One of the attributes that we might notice with this transit is a tendency towards self-pity. This is often seen in a negative light, but I believe there is a spiritual reason why we experience this. It is our inner self trying to get our attention, calling us within to pay more attention to our Self and our inner journey.

If we have the courage to look our self-pity in the eye, there is an amazing potential for healing and growth to be gained from this pity-party. When we keep dipping our toe in and out again, not allowing the full tsunami of sorrow to affect us, we are only playing a game of psychological “Hokey-Cokey,” which can keep us stuck wallowing in and out of negativity and depressive thinking for years.

The first lesson the Buddha taught after his enlightenment was “The Four Noble Truths.” These are the founding tenets of Buddhism, and the first noble truth is the truth of suffering.

When Chiron is in Pisces, we become acutely attuned to the first noble truth, the truth of suffering. Suffering is real. We deepen our humanity, humility, and increase our capacity for compassion when we finally surrender to the call of Chiron in Pisces and acknowledge the truth of our own suffering first. Life is hard. When we finally acknowledge the truth of our own suffering and struggle, something changes. We can finally let go. We cannot be with others’ pain and suffering until we have met our own.

This is an opportunity for spiritual transformation, to transform “painful” states of mind. Normally we don’t think of ourselves as “suffering,” unless we are in acute physical or deep emotional pain. But according to Buddhist teaching, our everyday lives are low-level forms of suffering. On a daily basis, we experience painful states of mind such as anger, jealousy, anxiety, stress, fear and sadness. We accept these as normal, but they are actually suffering states. Acknowledging this is to face the truth of our own suffering.

When Chiron is in Pisces, we might suddenly find ourselves wallowing in self-pity. This is an attempt by our psyche to get our attention. You are requesting an audience with yourself. However, in this busy, chaotic world we live in, unless we have some regular practice such as meditation, few of us have the ability to really sit and be with ourselves. To be fully present, with a depth of care and attention, that can be healing. This is why many of us go to therapy – to simply learn to be with our own wounds.

In Part II, we’ll look at the need for boundaries while Chiron is in Pisces.


Ruth

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Ruth Hadikin, Soul Astrologer

Ruth Hadikin – Soul Astrologer

To get your personal Soul Sign/Life Purpose Report (FREE with a consultation), contact Ruth via her website. You can also request a FREE mp3 download, “The Energetics of Soul Astrology.”

Taurus-Scorpio, Part II: The Desire to Know and the Path of Illumination

Nice try, Taurus, but eating a chocolate Buddha won't substitute for meditation. Photo from Chocolate Deities of Redhook, NY.

Whereas Taurus’ opposite sign Scorpio is the first to dive headlong into confrontation, Taurus can dig in their heels and actively avoid confrontation to “keep the peace” (or just present a wall of stubborn silence).

Contentment and preserving the status-quo are the ego-traps of Taurus. The tendency to avoid making waves and to be content with material gain and/or sensual pleasures prevents you from asking the bigger questions, exploring your inner nature, and seeking higher knowledge. This keeps you stuck in “spiritul ignorance,” focused purely on mundane matters and not recognizing your own inner awareness.

The higher Divine vibration and illuminated nature of your Taurus Soul cannot be accessed from such a limited perspective. The deeper mystery of Taurus’s esoteric ruler, Vulcan, is hinting that we have the key to our own destiny: we really are forging our own path. The inner mysteries of Taurus are strongly connected to the development of the three kayas (three bodies of a Buddha) or, in other words, the light body.

As a Taurean Soul, you have an inner understanding of the process of involution – a necessary precursor to evolution – whereby Spirit incarnates into matter to have a physical experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience because of the energies of Taurus. They are the most mystical of energies. At its highest level of illumination, it is the sign of omniscience (all-knowing) and clairvoyance (clear seeing), so it is ironic that at the personality level, many Taureans keep yourselves spiritually limited by not aspiring to spiritual truth.

This is the Soul-path of Taurus in a nutshell: the transformation of desire into aspiration. To transform the desire for mundane sense-pleasures into the aspiration for spiritual truth. Yes, folks, it’s time to put down the chocolate and go meditate!

When you allow yourselves to simply be in meditation – for example, with the radiance of a flower – a deep inner knowing begins to dawn upon you. More than anyone, your Taurean Soul knows that your own physical body is both a Temple and a Universe. You know the beauty and radiance of the flower, felt at a very deep level, which connects with your own inner beauty and radiance until eventually there comes a recognition of the Divine within. As a Taurean Soul, you are learning to use your exquisite sensing capability to sense Divinity in all physical forms. This is how you sense and know beauty.

By being more inquisitive about the nature of your own inner world, you start moving towards Taurus’ opposite pole of Scorpio. This lifts you out of your comfort zone, beyond the doldrums of contentment, and cultivates your desire to know. The knowledge gained in Scorpio awakens and enlivens the higher vibration of Taurus. The full implications of your Taurean Soul Journey are hinted at in the Soul Keynote for Taurus:

“I see and when the Eye is opened, all is light.” 1

This refers to the opening of the inner eye, following which you see and understand the workings of the Universe. The Soul path of Taurus is to know and understand all the mysteries of the workings of the Universe by recognizing and directing your own inner light. The power of Taurus to illuminate was well-known in ancient times. The brightest star in the constellation of Taurus, Aldebaran, is commonly called the “eye of the Bull,” but it was also known in Ancient Mystery schools to be the “Eye Of Illumination.”2

Vulcan, Soul ruler of Taurus, shapes and forges primordial awareness into physical matter. This accounts for the dualistic inclinations of Taurean energy: will you direct your power and stamina outward toward the mundane, or inward toward the spiritual?

When the pristine, primordial, immature awareness of Aries (the “point of light in the mind of God” 1) first moves towards form3 in Taurus, as a result of desire, it is not yet known whether it will incline toward the mundane, become embroiled in the materialistic world and contribute to the “great illusion,” or whether it will incline towards a spiritual path and move to illumination. It could go either way. Will your journey be of benefit to all, or just benefit for yourself?

If you have Taurus strongly placed, it is very important for you to stay alert, aware, recognize your inner senses and make conscious choices to move toward the light moment by moment. This time of year, this not only applies to those with Taurus in their natal chart, but to the rest of us as well. During our annual “Taurus shower,” we all get to bask in the energies of potential illumination. Each one of us has the potential to become a Buddha (enlightened one). What we make of it is up to us. The spiritual path of Taurus is one from ignorance to illumination through a deep recognition of spiritual truth and the power to cultivate and direct spiritual energy into form.


Ruth

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Footnotes:

1. Esoteric Astrology, the wisdom of Djwhal Khul (Master DK) channelled through Alice Bailey.
2. Here is a great article exploring the mystery of Aldebaran: http://www.souledout.org/cosmology/highlights/aldebaran.html
3. Not necessarily physical form. The Soul can be considered to have a “form,” “character,” or “shape.”

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Ruth Hadikin, Soul Astrologer

Ruth Hadikin – Soul Astrologer

To get your personal Soul Sign/Life Purpose Report (FREE with a consultation), contact Ruth via her website. You can also request a FREE mp3 download, “The Energetics of Soul Astrology.”

Follow Ruth:

Taurus-Scorpio, Part I: The Desire to Know and the Path of Illumination

It’s time for another installment of Ruth’s inspirational series on the signs of the Zodiac from the perspective of esoteric astrology. Here, we have a look at the meaning of Taurus and its opposite sign, Scorpio. ~ Pat

Taurean content. © Pat Paquette, 2011.

In Part I, we look at the importance of Taurus’s opposite sign Scorpio in awakening Taurus to the treasures of the spiritual journey.

It is said that the Buddha had six planets (plus Chiron) in Taurus.1 It is believed that he was born under Taurus, passed in Taurus, and became enlightened in Taurus. Many important Buddhist festivals are celebrated during the time of Taurus. The highest vibration of Taurus is about revelation, illumination and enlightenment. It is a very mysterious sign, associated with the opening of the third eye.

Esoterically, the ruling planet of Taurus is Vulcan, which itself is hidden (a hypothetical planet once believed to be orbiting between the Sun and Mercury, Vulcan is used only in esoteric astrology.) Vulcan is the blacksmith of the Zodiac, and Master DK says that Vulcan either forges “the chains that bind us” or “the key that sets us free.”2 The choice between imprisonment in the material realm of “Samsara” (the cycle of death and rebirth) or liberation lies in the mysteries of Taurus.

At the personality level, Taurus has a tendency toward stubbornness. This is natural; as the fixed-earth sign, its purpose is to create stability. Anyone with a Taurean friend or relative will know the reassuring sense of stability we feel around our Taurean friends. The purpose of all “fixed” energy is to stabilise; however, the Soul purpose of Taurus relates to the deeper mysteries of “stabilising” spirit in matter.

As the vibration of Venus comes through Taurus at the personality level, most Taurean individuals are seen to be placid, peaceful and only stubborn if you try to push them in a direction they don’t want to go. As an earth sign, they are very much focused on the practicalities of life, so most Taureans are happy as long as the family is OK, everybody has enough food to eat and a roof over their heads, and the bills are paid. “Lazy” is not a word we would usually associate with Taurus – they can be very hard workers. Like the Bull, they plod and plod and plod, because they understand how to work steadily, make money, and cover the basics: to make sure their family’s basic needs are met. Then they are happy.

If you have Taurus Sun, Moon or Rising Sign (Ascendant), this Venusian effect means you need to have beauty in your surroundings. A beautiful home, beautiful garden and/or somewhere peaceful is more than just personal preference. For you, it is vital for your well-being. To be able to sit in a peaceful environment is very important, because you are affected by your physical surroundings. Anything disharmonious disturbs you, while beauty and harmony are therapeutic for you. This is because, like Libra, you also have an innate knowing of harmony and a strong affinity for beauty. Beautiful surroundings are very healing for you.

Beauty is simply harmony expressed in form (whereas Libra is concerned with harmony in all systems, Taurus’s knowledge of and concern with harmony is in its application to physical forms). You may also have an artistic streak, a beautiful voice, or at least a love and appreciation of music, because you understand harmonics. Some of my Taurean friends laugh at this (yes, you also have a great sense of humour) yet you decorate your homes and gardens with as much skill, care, attention, harmony and balance as any interior designer.

Where you can become lazy is intellectually and/or spiritually. The halls of academia are hardly filled with Taureans. You have a tendency to become content too easily, once your physical and comfort needs are met. Once you have material security and beautiful surroundings, you tend to relax and not go any further. While the Scorpios are busy packing their backpacks for the great spiritual adventure, you would rather stay home with the family in the garden with your feet up and a cocktail by the pool.

Taurus, like its polar opposite Scorpio, is on the path of Mastering Desire. But whereas Scorpio’s challenge is to tame their multiple desires, you have to cultivate the “Desire to Know.” Whereas Scorpio desires to dive deeply and intensely into the depths of the human psyche, your energy is the energy of primordial desire, desire for sense pleasures: beauty, harmony, comfort. This has to be cultivated into the desire to know, so that you can aspire to the highest vibration of enlightenment and illumination. The inquisitiveness and deep inner probing of Scorpio is needed for Taurus to realize that there is something inside worth aspiring to. This then turns your attention away from the material world and toward a deeper exploration of your inner world and, eventually, your own true nature. There are inner mysteries awaiting your discovery!

In Part II, we will explore the deeper mysteries of Taurus and find out why it is the sign of illumination.


Ruth

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1. Buddhist Astrology, by Jhampa Shaneman & Jan V. Angel.
2. Esoteric Astrology, the wisdom of Djwhal Khul (Master DK), channelled through Alice Bailey.

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Ruth Hadikin, Soul Astrologer

Ruth Hadikin – Soul Astrologer

To get your personal Soul Sign/Life Purpose Report (FREE with a consultation), contact Ruth via her website. You can also request a FREE mp3 download, “The Energetics of Soul Astrology.”

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